After his success with ‘Chronicle’, producer John Davis is hard at work with his next project. Hollywood Reporter tells that Davis has acquired the rights to the sci-fi short film ‘Archetype’, which was directed by Aaron Sims. Along with Fox, where he has a first look deal, Davis plans to develop the short into a full-blown feature film.
The seven-minute film follows a military cyborg whose humanity re-emerges due to a malfunction in his system. Here’s the film’s plot according to the film’s YouTube page:
“RL7 is an eight-foot tall combat robot that goes on the run after malfunctioning with vivid memories of once being human. As its creators and the military close in, RL7 battles its way to uncovering the shocking truth behind its mysterious visions and past.”
Sims and company created the short as a labor of love to show the great Hollywood machine what they could do. Before founding his own visual effects firm that has credits on such films as ‘War Horse’ and ‘The Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, Sims started his career with Rick Baker doing special effects and make-up on movies such as ‘Gremlins 2’ and ‘Batman Forever’.
For the ‘Archetype’ feature, Sims is attached to direct, while newcomers Guy Busick and Ryan Murphy (not the ‘Glee’ creator) are set for scripting duties. Davis will produce with ‘The Help’ executive producer John Norris.
If you watch the short, it’s easy to see that it’s meant to be a feature. If the full length happens to capture the same magic that the short does, then I’ll definitely be looking forward to sitting in the theater for this one.
Check out the short film in its entirety below.